


Opus is Sicco

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order
Genre: Drama, Episode: s20e05 Dignity, F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-07
Updated: 2010-09-07
Packaged: 2018-06-10 04:57:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6940774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They’d crossed a lot of lines in their time working together and it looked as if they may have just crossed the point of no return.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Opus is Sicco

**Author's Note:**

> The title is Latin for ‘work it out’, the last thing Jack said to them before the screen faded to black.

“I'm not hungry.” Connie said, sipping her beer.

“You might want to change your mind.” Mike replied. “The bacon cheddar fries are really good here.”

Connie turned up her nose. “No, really, thanks but no thanks.”

“I know for a fact you haven’t eaten all day, Connie.”

“So you're my nutritionist now?” She asked.

“No, I'm just concerned.”

“There is nothing to be concerned about. I'm just not hungry.”

“You were just going to leave me? Just like that, walk away? It was that easy.”

“I didn’t say it was easy.” She whispered, finishing off the beer. A barmaid came with another in a matter of minutes. Connie thanked her.

“You didn’t even talk to me about it.”

“I think we said enough during the Grogan trial. We didn’t need to go there.”

“Go where?” Mike asked. “We weren't disagreeing with each other until…”

“Until what? I let my morals cloud my judgment? That's funny coming from the guy who almost bit my head off because he was going to use whatever language he wanted to in his office.”

“I did not almost bite your head off. I never did that.”

Connie shook her head. There were words on the tip of her tongue but she knew it was better not to say them. They weren't what this was all about. She wasn’t quite sure what this was all about but her words would probably do nothing to make it better.

“No matter what, Grogan deserved what he got.” Mike said. “No matter what you, I, or anyone in that courtroom thinks about life, choice, and everything in between, Grogan murdered Dr. Benning. He murdered him at church while he was praying. And that’s unacceptable.”

“Agreed.”

“Shake on it.”

“That’s not going to fix this.” Connie said. “Those beliefs were never in dispute.”

Mike didn't want to fight anymore. He had no idea how to make up but he didn’t want to fight. It hurt him that she didn’t just come to him after the trial. He wouldn’t have cared if she yelled or even threw things, but to go to Jack and say she didn’t want to work with him anymore…that hurt. That hurt a lot.

“Pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion; it never has.” Connie said. “I think as soon as people realize that there may be a whole new conversation to have.”

“We shouldn’t talk about it.” Mike said.

“Why not?”

“Because it doesn’t have anything to do with the job. Was I mad at you for what you did? Hell yes, but in the end you did what was right for you. If you change, if you're not Connie anymore, even doing something that pisses me off…this thing won't work between us. It’s not specific to a case. We’ve disagreed before and moved past it. What's so different about this time?”

“You said you didn’t want to talk about it, Mike. You said it didn’t have anything to do with the job. I don’t want to fight, I'm tired and I want to go home. If you can stand me, I can stand you…lets just tell Jack we’re fine.”

“You can stand me? That’s what this has become.”

“I need to go home.” Connie drank half of her beer and pulled a ten dollar bill from her purse.

“Your money is no good here.” He said, her words still stinging. He didn’t know how to make this better. They’d crossed a lot of lines in their time working together and it looked as if they may have just crossed the point of no return.

“I can pay my own way, Mike.” She put the money down on the table. Mike put his hand over hers and Connie looked at him.

“I don’t think this is going to blow over.”

“I never said it was. We work well together and Jack wasn’t far off when he said it'll be a real pain to find someone to work with you. I love what I do, and despite everything we make a good team in the courtroom. I think we can continue to do that.”

“Just in the courtroom?” Mike asked.

“Now is not the time…”

“When is the time, Sway? We’re at a hurdle, are we going to cross it or turn and run away.”

“I'm going home to get some sleep. You should do the same. We’ll talk in the morning.”

“Fine.” Mike sighed and moved his hand. He didn’t want to get into an argument in the middle of a dive bar. “Let me walk you home.”

“I was gonna take a cab.” Connie said.

“Its only about a mile, it’s a nice rainy night. The walk will be good for both of us. I even have my big boy umbrella.”

Mike held up the blue umbrella and Connie managed a small smile. He knew she loved walking in the rain; knew she wasn’t going to take a cab.

“One condition.”

“Name it.”

“We don’t talk about this right now. Give it some space and some time.”

“I can do that.” Mike nodded.

“I’ll go to the ladies room and then we’ll leave.”

Mike watched her go. He waved over the barmaid and paid for the beers. Then he gave her Connie’s ten as a tip. She would’ve killed him if she thought he paid for everything. So he tipped the barmaid, finished his beer, and waited for Connie to come out of the ladies room.

She finally did and they were off. The rain wasn’t heavy but it was steady. They were shielded well under Mike’s big umbrella; didn’t even have to touch each other to both stay dry. It was too quiet but he wasn’t in the mood to break the silence. With his track record he would surely say the wrong thing.

“You’re one of my best friends.” He said around block four. “I know myself, Connie, and I probably have a lousy way of showing it but you know me. You know how I work, you know what makes me tick, you know when to pull me down from the ledge, and when to shove me off. It’s not very often, at least in my life, that a relationship can be so beneficial and satisfying. You know how I take my coffee, you switched your side of the bed for me…I don’t want to lose that.”

“Yet somehow, through all of that, I still can't make you listen.” She replied.

“I am not talking about the case. I didn’t break the rule.”

“You're such a hair splitter.” Connie smirked.

“Well maybe I just wanted to say it before I lost my nerve.”

“Mike Cutter losing his nerve,” She glanced at him. “Someone call The Ledger; it could be a front page story.”

“I’d rather lose that then ever lose you.” He said.

“Mike…”

“I'm not talking about anything but our working relationship.” He held his hand up as if he were taking an oath. “I swear. If you go to white collar then I won't be happy. You won't be happy either, Connie. Because despite the times we lock horns and possibly even want to kill each other, we’re an amazing team. We both love what we do and we work…most of the time we work well together. We can get past this, whatever this is, we can get past it.”

She didn’t say anything. She said they weren't going to talk about it, give it time and space, and she planned to hold up her end of that. Sometimes Mike Cutter just didn’t know when to shut up. His words were sweet but tonight they felt like just that…words.

Connie would never think he was being insincere, despite having been that way in the past, but she just didn’t want to talk. Action spoke louder than words. Words were nothing without action and purpose behind them. So she just walked and didn’t say another word until they were in front of her building.

“Goodnight, Mike.”

“I…”

“Stop.” Connie turned and looked at him. “For God’s sake, just quit while you’re ahead.”

He nodded. She could see it in his eyes; he wanted to talk so bad the words were probably going to tumble out of his ears.

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“I’ll walk you inside.” He said.

“No, you won't.”

She stepped out from under the umbrella, walking quickly up the steps.

“If you need anything Connie, just call me.”

She didn’t turn back and soon disappeared behind the door. Mike stood out there for a little while, just watching. Nothing was happening and a cab flying by and nearly drowning him sent him off toward the subway. He needed to shake this off. He would get some sleep and start again tomorrow.

It was tough though, he couldn’t figure out why Connie would talk to Jack and not him. Was she that mad at him, and if she was why was she so mad? They both said things that were upsetting. The whole situation was upsetting.

But they'd gotten through upsetting situations before. Would this be their undoing? It didn’t make a lot of sense and Mike needed things to make sense. They needed to start doing that sooner rather than later.

***


End file.
